‘Heartstopper’ Season 3 Is More of the Same — in a Good Way

Alice Oseman's teen love story returns and tackles a handful of complicated subplots with the show's signature warmth and maturity.

You could argue that good TV shows have a tougher time than bad ones.

A bad or average show has obvious room for improvement and clear changes that can be made between seasons. A good show has to stay good, maybe even level up to great or superb or other glowing descriptors, and that’s a trickier task.

Netflix‘s “Heartstopper” is one such series, a romance created by Alice Oseman and based on her own graphic novels. Over the course of three seasons (so far!), Nick (Kit Connor) Charlie (Joe Locke), and all their friends navigate all kinds of relationships, with an enchanting soundtrack and pops of illustration to immerse the viewer in their world. The series always was and continues to be just wonderful, dwelling comfortably in queer joy and friendship as the characters grow up and prepare to leave school.

With that foundation, you can’t fault Season 3 (based on Volume 5 of Oseman’s series) for continuing the tradition. The “Heartstopper” teens exhibit a maturity beyond their years, so they’re good at solving problems and moving on. The series hasn’t needlessly pulled Nick and Charlie apart only to throw them back together, because once they chose each other, that was that. The same goes for Tao (William Gao) and Elle (Yasmin Finney), Tara (Corinna Brown) and Darcy (Kizzy Edgell); like any relationship (especially adult ones), there’s so much for them to tackle after making things official that the story stays fresh.

Once Nick and Charlie declare their love for each other, the season tackles Charlie’s eating disorder and the ways in which Nick tries to support him. This ranges from an early conversation where Nick confronts his boyfriend, to Charlie sharing the truth with his parents, to how it affects Charlie’s body image when the boys want more sexually. Oseman weaves an everyday struggle into everyday scenarios instead of siloing it as a subplot.

As the friends celebrate everything from beach days to New Year’s to Charlie and Sahar’s (Leila Khan) band performance, individual characters dig deeper into their queer identity. Darcy explores gender fluidity and new pronouns; Elle considers how having sex may trigger her body dysmorphia; and Isaac (Tobie Donovan), surrounded by couples, summons the courage (and patience) to explain to them that he’s aromantic (the show doesn’t quite know what to do with him after that and absent any romantic subplot, when he easily could have carried the stories given to Tara or Nick or Rhea Norwood’s Imogen). Every situation is handled with empathy and kindness, with the friends listening to each other, doing outside research, and offering support however they can. The non-Charlie stories resolve quicker and more easily; it’s idealistic, yes, but “Heartstopper” shows the possibilities that open up once you accept someone with open arms.

What “Heartstopper” captures expertly about young love is that even the smallest moments feel like cinematic endgame. Every kiss and hug and handhold — accentuated by the animated visuals that pop in and out — feels like a pivotal moment even when it’s objectively not. With Nick and others preparing to leave school, Season 3 is both a finale and a cliffhanger as the show awaits potential renewal (Oseman has one more graphic novel on the way), but it still carries that hopeful spark that has been there from the beginning.

“Heartstopper” is now streaming on Netflix.